How do you find the slope that is perpendicular to the line 4x-2y=10?

1 Answer
EZ as pi
Oct 2, 2016

m_1 = 2 and m_2 = -1/2

Explanation:

4x-2y =10" "larr change into slope-intercept form

4x -10 = 2y" "div2

2x-5 = y

y = 2x-5

This is now in the form y = mx +c
It gives the slope and the y-intercept immediately

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Recall: Slopes which are perpendicular are negative reciprocals of each other. Their product is -1.

Here are some examples:

3/1xx-1/3 = -1;color(white)(x)-3/2xx2/3 = -1; color(white)(x) -4 xx1/4 = -1

In general if one slope is a/b, the other will be -b/a
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In y = 2x-5, color(white)(xxxxxxx)m = 2

The slope perpendicular to 2 is -1/2

Note:
-1/2 = (-1)/2 = 1/-2" "larr the negative sign can be anywhere

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